The latest report from Strategy Analytics has revealed the 5G smartphone market share of leading phone makers during the first quarter of 2021.
Global 5G smartphone shipments grew 6 percent QoQ to 136 million units during the first quarter of 2021. Demand for 5G smartphones remains very strong, particularly in China, United States, and Western Europe.

“We forecast global 5G smartphone shipments to reach a record 624 million units for the full-year 2021, soaring from 269 million in full-year 2020,” Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics, said.

Leaders in 5G smartphone business

Apple shipped 40.4 million 5G smartphones.

Meanwhile, Apple dipped 23 percent QoQ, following a blowout Q4 2020 where the new 5G iPhone was wildly popular as a gift during the holiday season.

OPPO shipped 21.5 million 5G smartphones — due to solid volumes at home in China.

Vivo’s 5G smartphone shipment was 19 million units, driven by iQOO U3 5G and U7 5G smartphones. Vivo’s 5G smartphone strongholds are China and Europe.

Samsung’s 5G smartphone shipment touched 17 million units in Q1 2021.

Samsung is performing well with new 5G models, such as Galaxy S21 5G, S21 ultra 5G and S21+ 5G, in South Korea, North America, and parts of Europe.

Xiaomi shipped 16.6 million 5G smartphones mainly due to solid volumes at home in China.

Samsung is growing very fast in 5G smartphones, but it does have a portfolio gap in China. Samsung has extremely low presence in China, the world’s biggest 5G market, and this remains a significant drag on the vendor’s outlook, Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics, said.